Late Night Phone Calls
by Sass and Sex
Summary: After the Vice-Presidential debate, Jed and Abbey discuss their friend, Leo McGarry on his success. But when Jed calls Leo to congratulate him, the Bartlets uncover the truth behind a rumor.


**Late Night Phone Calls**

It was very late on the night of the vice presidential debate, and everyone in the Democratic Party was celebrating Leo McGarry's overwhelming success. Full of pride and excitement for their best friend, the Bartlets were getting ready for bed in the Residence of the White House.

"I hope he's out celebrating," Jed said to Abbey as they climbed into bed.

"Not too much," Abbey countered. "Let's not forget that the man has a heart condition."

"Still. He did remarkably well. A little partying won't kill him."

Abbey turned out the light and kissed her husband on the cheek. "I'm sure the whole crowd over there is keeping him up well past when they should, shaking his hand and congratulating him incessantly. As he deserves."

Jed smiled. "Oh, did you see Donna today?"

"Donna Moss? No, why?"

"She was here. Meeting about something with CJ. I don't pay any more attention to the campaign than I need to."

"Well sure, you've got a country to run."

"I try, yeah."

"Did you say hello to Donna?"

"I didn't get a chance to. She was gossiping with Margaret when CJ and I left the office. But I overheard a little something from the trail about our hero of the day…" Jed said teasingly.

Abbey turned to face him eagerly. "Oh really? There's gossip about Leo? I can't imagine what the hell it would be. That man is so married to his job, he got a divorce from his actual wife."

"Well it sounded like he's making a little time for a real life woman," he said with a smirk.

"Who!?"

"You remember Annabeth Schott?"

"Yeah. Tiny little blonde. Cute and strict. I liked her." The realization dawned on Abbey. "Oh my god. Leo and Annabeth?"

Jed shrugged. "That's what Donna said."

She rolled her eyes. "You're getting your information from eavesdropping on Donna and Margaret. Somehow I don't necessarily trust that."

"Hey, don't knock eavesdropping. This country has gotten into wars on less credible information."

"I don't think you should believe anything about Leo that you don't hear from Leo himself. If he is seeing Annabeth, I'm sure he'll tell you the next time you talk," she assured him.

"You don't believe that he would be with her? Or the other way around?"

"Neither. I think she's got a good personality for him, from the limited time I've spent with her. And Leo has plenty going for him. Still a good looking guy, and he's brilliant and powerful and wonderful."

"Should I be worried? I don't think I like hearing my wife sing the praises of another man."

Abbey scoffed, "You can get over it. If I was going to leave you for Leo or anyone, I would have done it long before now."

"That's probably true," Jed conceded. "You're a little past the days of being a seductress of men."

"You wanna bet?" she threatened.

He laughed. "Oh no, babe. I don't want you seducing anyone but me."

"So you want me to seduce you?" she asked, reaching over to tease her fingers over his chest and down under the covers.

Jed grinned. "I'm game whenever you are, sweet knees."

She chuckled, happy she had won this miniature argument. "I figured as much. But we're talking about Leo and Annabeth, not us." Abbey pulled her hand back, pushing her hair back from her face. "I don't think it would really surprise me if they got together."

"Other than the obvious age difference."

"She's older than his daughter. And for men of your age, that's doing pretty well. If they don't have a problem with it, I don't see why we should."

"Men of my age?" Jed objected with feigned outrage.

"You know what I mean."

"You really think they've got something going on?"

"Jed, you're the one who brought this up! I have no idea. If you want to know, just ask Leo."

He sat up and turned the light back on. "You're right. I think I will."

"Now?!"

"Yes, now. What better time? He's not working. And I'm a little busy during the daylight hours."

Abbey groaned in exasperation. This was the man she loved. This eager, nosey, interfering man. "You're impossible, you know that?"

"Yep. That's why they voted for me."

She smacked his arm in retribution for his sass. He just laughed as he dialed the phone.

Meanwhile, Leo was in his hotel room, desperately trying to get off the phone with yet another well-wishing member of the party. This time it was a senator from Oregon. He tried as best he could to politely end the conversation, but it was more difficult than expected.

Annabeth sat on the other end of the sofa, waiting patiently for him to be finished. She was trying to organize her briefing books, but she was distracted. Every so often, she would sneak a peek at the man sitting two feet away. He was so capable, so good at what he did. This, talking on the phone with politicians, getting them to do what he wanted, this was what he was born for. Annabeth loved to watch him work. But it was one thing to see him here, in his element. It was quite another to watch from the sidelines tonight at the debate. She and the rest of the campaign staff had worked so hard to prepare him. As good as he was at the backstage work, he was practically useless at the front and center stuff.

Annabeth could not have been more proud of his performance at the debate. She had nearly killed herself working with him for that debate. And Leo, bless him, had trusted her enough to put his career and his future in her hands. It was that trust and close personal work that had led them here. She had adored him from a far for a while, and she had gotten the sense that he liked her too. But over the course of the campaign, they had become so close. The tension she had mentioned in the elevator that day had been quite real. And as much as he feigned ignorance, Leo had felt it too. He must have, because he had kissed her later that day. They had been too busy working to really examine anything between them, beyond stealing kisses in private, holding hands in elevators and cars, exchanging tender touches and knowing looks in crowds of people. But when he had invited him to have a drink in his room after the celebration that night, she had expected something more definite to happen.

No such luck. Leo was still working. Always working. But she wouldn't have it any other way. His devotion to his work was what had originally attracted her to him. It was so much a part of who he was, and she didn't want him to change for her or anyone else.

Leo was inches away from simply hanging up on the senator, but he knew better. Annabeth, sweet Annabeth, was sitting so close by. She waited for him to be finished without even an ounce of resentment. She understood and even encouraged his obligations. It was her job, after all. And he wouldn't have done any of this without her by his side. And the way she had her legs crossed in that blue skirt, bouncing one stocking foot while she fidgeted with the briefing book…well, Leo was having a bit of trouble paying attention to the phone call.

"Alright, Leo. I'll let you go. I know it's getting late, and I'm sure you have plenty of things to do. Congratulations, again."

Finally! "Thank you, Senator." Leo hung up the phone and put it down on side table to his left. He turned his attention to where he wanted it. "Sorry about that," he said to Annabeth.

She closed the briefing book and tossed it on the nearby armchair. "Don't be. Part of the job," she replied. "So you got me up here, McGarry. Was it just to watch you respond to well-wishers? Because I gotta say, there are better ways for me to spend my time."

He smirked at her facetiousness. "No more interruptions tonight, I promise." He held out his hand, inviting her to move closer.

Annabeth smiled and scooted over next to him. He put his arms around her and pulled her close, causing her to shiver slightly in anticipation. Their tender kisses soon grew in ardor. Annabeth pushed him backwards so she could lie on top of him on the sofa. They remained locked in their fiery embrace for a few minutes until the inevitable happened.

The phone rang. Again.

With a resigned sigh, Annabeth pushed herself away to let him get the phone. But Leo had other plans. He reached one hand behind him to grab his cell phone and used his other hand to keep Annabeth where she was. She raised her eyebrows at him in slight surprise, but smiled and settled back where she was, resting her head on his chest. "Can't you let it go to voicemail?" she asked in a small voice.

Leo was tempted to acquiesce, but saw who was calling. "It's the White House."

"I should go in the other room while you talk."

"No, you stay right here," he insisted. He flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

"Leo, hi!" Jed said cheerily.

"It's rather late, Mr. President. Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I am in bed. And I'm sure once she sees the clock, Abbey is gonna be pissed. But she can get over it. It's more important that I give my congratulations to my best friend."

Leo smiled, honored that the President had taken the time to call. "Thank you very much, sir."

"What did you do to celebrate?"

"The campaign staff put a small party together for me, but I left early. Lotta calls from various members of the party to answer, and still a lot more to prepare for in the coming days. We don't want to miss the opportunity the debate gave us to make a few gains."

"I have no doubt you'll capitalize on this, but I hope you'll give yourself a little time to enjoy it."

"Oh I am, sir."

"That's great. You…uh…celebrate with anyone in particular?"

Leo felt a small knot form in the pit of his stomach. Was he really asking what Leo thought he was asking? "Just the campaign staff."

"And Annabeth?"

"She's a member of the staff, yeah."

"Is she there with you now?"

He considered lying, but clearly the President already knew something. "Yes, she is."

Jed grinned in triumph. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything."

"Even if you were, I would have answered the call anyway."

"Well please apologize to her for me."

"I'll be sure to do that. She'll be glad you thought of her."

Jed's voice transitioned to a softer, more serious tone. "Do you love her?"

Leo didn't want to say too much with Annabeth right there. It was too soon for that. But he replied, "I think so, yeah."

Jed nodded and smiled as an indication to Abbey of Leo's answer. She sat up straighter and smiled. "Let me talk to him."

"Leo, Abbey wants to say hello." He handed the phone over to his wife.

"Leo?"

"Good evening, Mrs. Bartlet."

"I know your girlfriend is right there, but you are allowed to use my name. You don't even work here anymore."

"Whatever you say, Abbey."

"That's better. I just wanted to be like every single other person you've spoken to tonight and congratulate you on the debate. You were wonderful. Jed and I couldn't be prouder of you."

"Thank you very much."

"Now that I've done that, I can tell you that I'd actually like to talk to Annabeth."

"Oh. Alright." Leo tapped Annabeth's blonde head. "The First Lady would like to talk to you."

"Me!? Why!?" she whispered, the fear evident in her wide eyes. Leo shrugged and handed her the phone.

Annabeth sat up. "Annabeth Schott," she said into the phone, not sure how else to answer.

"Hello Annabeth. I don't want to take up too much of your time with Leo; I know you two don't have much of it to begin with. I just wanted to tell you that Jed and I think you and Leo would make a lovely couple."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"And I wanted to offer a little advice, if I may. I've known Leo for over thirty years and I know how he is with women."

"Uh…alright?"

"I'm sure most people would tell you not to take any of Leo's antics. Not to let him take you for granted, not to let him put his work before you. But that doesn't work for our Leo. I think you probably know that his work comes first. And you have to let him prioritize that. Because his wife made him choose, and he didn't choose her. And I don't think he would choose you either."

"I wouldn't want him to." Annabeth's heart was pounding. The First Lady of the United States was giving her dating advice.

Abbey nodded in satisfaction. "I had a feeling you'd say that. You're there with him on the campaign, you've watched him work. You understand. That's really important. Help him with what he needs, and you'll both be very happy, I'm sure."

"That's my plan."

"Good. I'm sorry if this comes off a little strange, but Jed insisted on calling and finding out if the rumors about you two were true. So I figured I'd take the opportunity to help a friend and keep you from making the same mistakes the others have made."

"I'm nothing like the others, Mrs. Bartlet, I can promise you that."

Abbey smiled. "Can I speak to Leo for a moment?"

Leo took the phone from Annabeth, who had a very curious look on her face. "Abbey?"

"She's pretty great, Leo. Keep her happy."

"I intend to."

"We're really pleased for you. I hope everything works out. But we've taken enough of your time. Go back to whatever you two were doing. I have to force our President to get some sleep."

"Well, thanks for calling. This is certainly the strangest conversation I've had in a while."

Abbey laughed, "I've been told that's not unusual for the Bartlets."

"From experience, I can assure you that it isn't. We'll see you soon, I'm sure."

"Take care, Leo."

They all hung up the phones for the last time. Abbey reached over her husband and turned out his light. "So we found out the truth."

Jed settled into bed. "I hope they can make it work. After the campaign, I mean. She's a sweet kid and sharp, too. She'll keep him on his toes."

"And she adores him," Abbey agreed.

He sighed. "I can't imagine trying to date during a campaign."

"Oh you've got a lot of experience with that, do you?" Abbey asked facetiously.

"I barely had time for you, let alone anyone else. And I love you."

She snorted in response to his sarcasm. "Thanks. That's nice to know."

"But Leo's a better man than I. Maybe he can make it work."

"I'm sure he can. Now quit worrying about Leo's love life and get some sleep."

"Whatever you say, doctor." He leaned over to kiss his wife and closed his eyes. Abbey curled up into his embrace and soon fell asleep as well.

Annabeth was in a slight state of shock after getting off the phone. "Leo, what the hell was that?"

"That was the Bartlets congratulating me and wishing us well. And Abbey giving you unsolicited advice, from the sound of it," he explained.

"I worked in the White House for over a year and spent a total of five minutes with her."

"Don't worry about it. Abbey's a mother of three girls. She's very protective of the people she loves. And I think in this case that would be me. And you, by default."

"But why?"

"Because I like you and she wants me to be happy. That's my best guess, anyway. But tonight should have anything to do with the Bartlets. It's about me and you and how my success tonight wouldn't have been possible without you."

Annabeth smiled. "You really did well."

"All because of you."

"That's such a lie. You that all on your own. All I did was pick out your tie and make sure your forehead wasn't shiny."

"I didn't smirk too much?"

"Yes, you did. But I don't care. Because you look very sexy when you do."

To prove her point, Leo flashed his signature smirk just for her.

"See? Stop that. I can't control myself when you look at me like that."

"I don't want you to control yourself."

Annabeth paused for a moment to weigh the pros and cons of the situation. On the one hand, this had been a long day and it would be unwise to do anything too important when emotions were high. But on the other hand…how could she resist him? She couldn't. She grinned widely and leaned into him once more, feeling the strength of his arms around her.

Leo wanted to resent the interruption the Bartlets had provided, but clearly Abbey had said something important to Annabeth. And now with the beautiful blonde in his arms, he made a mental note to thank Abbey the next time he saw her.


End file.
